Paint guard



Dec. 13, 1955 w. F. MIRON 2,726,633

PAINT GUARD Filed March 11, 1953 FIG. I

IN VENTOR WALTER F. MIRON,

BY M

ATTORNEY United States Patent O PAINT GUARD Walter F. Miron, Detroit,Mich.

Application March 11, 1953, Serial No. 341,773

2 Claims. (Cl. 118-504):

The present invention relates to improvements in masking devices andshields for protecting coated surfaces while adjacent areas are beingpainte'dor cleaned.

One object of the invention is to provide a paint guard or maskingdevice which can be readily applied to a freshly painted surface withoutmarring the surface such as fresh paint or the like, so that adjacentareas of a wall surface may be painted or cleaned without disturbing thefreshly paintedwall surface.

Another object is to provide a mas'king device which is curvedthroughout its length to enable the device when used as a paint guard tobe applied with tight contact to a wall surface, thus effectivelyinsuring against paint or coating material seeping beneath the contactedge when a coating is being applied to an adjacent wall. surface,molding, wainscoting and the like.

Another object is to provide a. device for masking certain areas of asurface while an adjacent surface is being coated or painted whichincludes a pair of spaced ,prongs having pointed contact ends which are.adaptedto engage the wall surface being masked in such a manner that thewall surface will not be unduly marked or mutilated.

Another object is to provide a device for masking coated surfaces whichis stamped from a single sheet of metal and bent to form a guard portionhaving a centrally located handle portion and a pair of wall surfacecontacting projections arranged such that pressure exerted on the handleportion will cause the slightly curved guard portion to contact a wallsurface throughout its entire length.

Another object is to provide a device for masking coated surfaces havinga straight edge portion which is graduated to designate linear units ofmeasurement.

Another object is to provide a paint guard and masking device for coatedsurfaces having one end portion provided with a curved edge which isadapted to conform to certain trim strip curvatures, while the other endis provided with an end edge normal to the contact edge of the paintguard to conform in shape to wall surfaces at right angles one to theother.

Another object is to provide a masking device for coated surfaces inwhich one end of the paint guard is of increased width to enable apainter to paint into corners and yet protect trim strips of adjacentareas.

Another object is to provide a flange portionv at one end of the paintguard which extends at right angles to the plane thereof so that the endportion can be inserted in corners of window and door frames whenpainting wall surfaces adjoining said window or door frame.

Another object is to provide a paint guard or masking device for coatedsurfaces which is curved throughout its length in a direction such thatpressure on the intermediate portion through the handle of the guardwill cause the contact edge to engage the wall surface without the endportions buckling outwardly and causing paint seepage beneath thecontact edge of the paint guard.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be- 2,726,633 APatented Dec; 13,. 1955 surfaces of various trirn strips. The positionof the handle is shown intermediate the ends of the guard.

Figure 2. is a top edge elevat'ional view of the paint guard showing thecontact prongs spaced one oneachside of the handle and showing theflanged end portion. of the guard to facilitate protecting cornerportions of adja cent surfaces, and 1 Figure 3 is an end elevation'alvview of the paint guard 7 showing the manner in which. the guard isapplied to a wall. surface which has been freshly painted or cleaned to.Ifacilitate cleaning or painting of. the floor; trim, :of a building,such as abaseboard.

In the drawing, and more in detail, there is shown for the purpose ofillustrating the invention, a. preferred embodiment thereof whichincludes a body portion generally designated 5 which is blanked from asingle sheet "of metal to provide an elongated portion 6 having astraight edge 7 adapted to contact the corner between a pair of adjacentwall surfaces. Theelongated portion 6 is curved throughout its length ona radius of approximately inches in a direction such that the endportions will contact. the surface until slight pressure is exerted onthe intermediate portion to press. the entire straight edge: 7 incontactual engagement with a substantially flat wall surface.

The elongated portion 6 is slightly bent as at 8 atan angle so that thecontacting edge 7 will be presented to the wall surface Wof a building(Fig. 3,) when. the floor board or trim T is being paintedxor cleaned.Also, the

angularly bent portion 8 slightly reinforces the elongated portion 6.

Formed integral with the intermediate section of the body portion 5 isan extension 9 which is integrated with the body portion and extends ata slight angle to form a hand grip or handle 10. The extreme free edgeof the handle 10 terminates in a return bent portion 11.

Also formed integral with the body portion 5 in spaced apart relationand arranged one on each side of the projection 9 is a triangular tab 12which has its end portion pointed and slightly bent as at 13 to contacta wall surface which has been freshly painted such that the pointed ends13 will not materially rnar or otherwise damage a surface freshlypainted or cleaned.

One end of the body portion 5 is enlarged as at 14 to provide an edgesurface 15 which extends normal to the edge surface 7 to permit the endof the masking device to be inserted in corners, and thereby protectadjoining corner surfaces when painting or cleaning. The opposite end ofthe body portion is slightly curved as at 16 to enable the end surfaceto be placed against trim strips of various shapes when painting incorners.

Integrated with the body portion 5 adjacent the end 16 is a flange 17which has an end edge portion 18 adapted to co-act with the edge portion16 when the mask or guard is used in corner portions of at least threewall surfaces.

The elongated portion 6 is provided with a series of markings 19 todesignate linear units of measurement as indicated by the numericaldesignations 20.

It is to be noted that the prongs 12 are substantially triangular shapedso that their points are apexes, and since the triangular projectionsare fiat, the apexes provide fine pointed ends which are adapted tofrictionally engage a wall surface to hold the shield or guard in placebut yet prevent unduly marking the wall surface which may be eitherfreshly cleaned or painted.

In operation, the handle 10 is grasped, and the elongated portiqn 6positioned with respect to a wall surface W as shown in Figure 3 suchthat the straight edge portion 7 will be presented above a trim strip Tof a baseboard B. In this position, the triangular shaped prongs 12frictionally engage the wall surface W and their pointed ends 13 contactthe surface and prevent the shield or guard from slipping laterally orlongitudinally while the trim strip T and baseboard B are being paintedor cleaned. Thus, the wall surface W is protected or masked and whenslight pressure is exerted on the handle the straight edge 7 is pressedinto firm contactual engagement with the wall surface W above a trimstrip for such wood trim finishes as doorways, Windows and the like.

By reason of the fact that the body portion 6 is curved in a lateraldirection throughout its length, slight pressure exerted on the centralportion by manually pressing the handle 10 will cause the end portionsof the straight edge 7 to first engage the wall surface with the centralportion finally coming into contact with the Wall surface W throughoutthe entire length of the shield or guard.

When painting or cleaning in corners, the edges 15 and 16 may beemployed and when using the curved end 16 which is shaped to fit thecontour of certain molding strips, the edge 18 will cooperate therewithby presenting the edges 16 and 18 in corners of woodwork and variousframe structures.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown anddescribed is to be taken as a preferred embodiment thereof, and thatvarious changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may beresorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or thescope of the subjoined claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a shield and guard for masking coated surfaces, :1 stamping ofmetal shaped to provide an elongated body portion having a straight edgealong one side thereof and a handle on the other side, a pair oftriangular shaped prongs integrated with said body portion and bent in adirection at right angles to said body and extending rearwardly tofrictionally contact a wall surface, and a flange disposed laterallyalong the back edge of an end portion of the body, the ends of both theflange and the body being chamfered to fit into, closer engagement withboth adjacent surfaces at a corner when the mask is tilted.

2. In a shield and guard for masking coated surfaces, a pressed metalstamping formed of thin sheet metal to provide a straight edge along oneside thereof, and a handle projection bent from said stamping along theother side thereof, said body portion being bent in a lateral directionsuch that when the straight edge is presented to a wall surface andpressure applied to the handle the straight edge will contactuallyengage the wall surface throughout its entire length, and a pair oftriangular shaped rearwardly extending projections formed integral withthe body portion and arranged one on each side of said handle, saidprojections being bent at right angles to the metal stamping and beingformed with points on the free ends thereof to engage a wall surface andanchor the shield in position, one end of said body portion being ofincreased width and a flange disposed laterally along the back edge ofthe opposite end portion of the body, the ends of both the flange andthe body being chamfered to fit into closer engagement with bothadjacent surfaces at a corner when the mask is tilted.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS554,403 Warncke Feb. 11, 1896 1,001,532 Kenyon et al. Aug. 22, 19111,434,903 Manning Nov. 7, 1922 2,212,073 Orth Aug. 20, 1940 2,289,136Matter July 7, 1942 2,290,472 Hendrick July 21, 1942 2,497,715 BelschnerFeb. 14, 1950 2,517,220 Lister Aug. 1, 1950 2,698,002 Thoss Dec. 28,1954 2,698,003 Bullock Dec. 28, 1954

